ANYONE who has been best friends with the king of the playground, only to see them leave half-way through junior school, will know how Tony Blair feels.

Having formed a special bond with Bill Clinton, the Prime Minister has not only to cope with the grief of his loss, but he also has to start again winning favour with the new number one.

But while he found a soulmate in Bill Clinton, the new man in the White House may prove harder to win over.

The two world leaders meet for the first time this weekend, in a bonding session at Camp David, but already the signs are less than promising.

"Clearly the personal relationship isn't there at the moment, and this visit is to try and create that relationship," says Newcastle University academic Rod Hague.

"But the friendship between Clinton and Blair was well-known and that probably isn't a plus for the incoming president."

In some ways, the situation is a reverse of that in 1992, when Clinton was the new president getting to know John Major.

The Major administration had declared its support for Clinton's predecessor, George Bush, with the result being a frosty relationship between the White House and Downing Street .

"I think they will have some difficulty getting on the same wavelength," says Mr Hague, a senior politics lecturer.

"They don't quite see the world in the same way and they will not respond to the same things. They are very dissimilar people in almost every way and I doubt that they share much in the way of interests."

For Tony Blair, one of the key issues for the future is the Missile Defence scheme, the Son of Star Wars, which aims to protect the United States from attack.

Bitterly opposed by most of Britain's European allies, it is strongly supported by George W, who has made it clear it lies at the heart of future US military policy.

But for it to work, the US radar base at Fylingdales in North Yorkshire will have to be upgraded, and it will take all of the Prime Minister's skill to keep his friends happy on both sides of the Atlantic.

The European Rapid Reaction Force is another potential source of difficulty, with the new Republican administration more lukewarm to the idea than its Democrat predecessors.

One thing Mr Blair does have in his favour in securing a place in Dubya's affections is as an ally over Iraq. The use of RAF planes alongside American in last week's bombing, in the face of universal opposition, was intended to show that the US could still count on Britain.

At the end of their weekend of bonding, both leaders are certain to declare it a great success, certain that the special relationship will continue.

But this relationship is more important to the junior partner, according to Mr Hague.

"All this talk about the special relationship is largely candy floss, especially from the American point of view," he says.

"They have a special relationship with 20 or 30 countries, all of them are special in some sense and some of them are more special than the British one."

And, says Mr Hague, in the end it may not be crucial if Mr Blair does not get on so well with Dubya as with his predecessor because it is unlikely to affect his approach to the US.

"Britain's approach to international politics in recent years has been to stand as close to the Americans as they can, to be the obedient side-kick in almost everything the Americans have been involved in," Mr Hague says.

"That is the way to try and win friends and influence people in Washington. But although Blair will work hard to be nice and to be liked, I think he will have his work cut out.